How could you possibly go wrong when the two primary ingredients are almost universally-adored? Chocolate coffee cake is the perfect dessert or afternoon cake, full of flavour and deliciously moist.
Recipe by Ronelle Hart
Photographs by Annalize Nel
Chocolate-coffee cake
Ingredients
- 230g self-raising flour
- 240g castor sugar
- 30ml – 45ml (2 tbsp – 3 tbsp) cocoa powder
- 5ml (1 tsp) instant coffee granules
- 3 eggs, separated
- 15ml (1 tbsp) vanilla essence
- 125ml (½ cup) sunflower oil
- 125ml (½ cup) boiling water
- 5ml (1 tsp) baking powder
- 250ml (1 cup) fresh cream
- 5ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence
- 60ml (¼ cup) icing sugar, sifted
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Grease and line the base of two 22cm round cake tins.
Mix together the flour, castor sugar, cocoa and coffee granules.
In a separate bowl, mix together the egg yolks, vanilla essence, sunflower oil and boiling water. Then add to the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
Beat the egg whites and baking powder together to stiff peaks. Fold carefully into the batter.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake tins and bake in the oven until a skewer inserted into the centre of each comes out clean, 20 – 30 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
Make the icing by beating the cream, vanilla and icing sugar together to soft peaks. Once the cakes have cooled, spread a layer of the icing over one cake and sandwich the two together. Ice the top of the cake, leaving a trowelled texture.